Warriors beaten in Women’s Derby

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors suffered a first Women’s Super League defeat of the season against St Helens.
• The hosts came from behind to claim the two points after the Warriors held the lead at the break following a Mary Coleman try.
• FT | St Helens 24-8 Wigan Warriors.

Wigan Warriors suffered a first women’s super league defeat of the season after losing 24-8 to St HELENS.

A fast start at the Totally Wicked Stadium saw the Warriors build an 8-0 lead inside half an hour following Coleman’s try and four points from the boot of Emma Knowles.

Despite a brave defensive effort for large parts of the second half, the Warriors fell short to St Helens who crossed for five tries.

Report

The hosts started strongly as Wigan were forced into defending their own try line in the opening stages, however, an alert piece of defending from Isabel Rowe relieved pressure following a threatening grubber kick in behind.

Wigan grew in confidence following successive penalties for a high hits, and shortly after being held up over the line, a short pass from Rowe allowed Coleman to power through three tacklers to open the scoring. Emma Knowles added the extras to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead after 15 minutes.

The Warriors almost added a second try on 23 minutes when an attack resulted in Rowe sending Emma Welsford over from close range, however, the score was ruled out due to a forward pass.

St Helens continued to face a bombardment of attacking pressure from the Warriors who saw an attack halted 10m out due to an offside offence. Knowles widened the points difference to eight after she sent the ball through the posts from the tee.

From the restart St Helens regained possession before applying pressure to the Warriors defensive line. Despite initially keeping Chantelle Crowl out from close range, Wigan were unable to prevent Luci McColm from breaking through to score. Faye Gaskin’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful as the Warriors held an 8-4 lead at the break.

The Warriors started the second half on the front foot following a forward pass from St Helens. Rease Casey almost found a way through after picking up the ball before Gaskin collected a kick on the final tackle to clear the danger.

St Helens crossed for a second try on 50 minutes when play was worked wide to McColm who dived over in the corner to double her points total. The contest remained level at 8-8 after Gaskin’s kick rebounded off the post.

The hosts increased their pressure on the Warriors defence as Katie Mottershead almost added a third try before the hour, however, the ball was knocked forwards in an attempt to ground.

Despite keeping multiple St Helens attacks out, the hosts found a way through the line when Vicky Whitfield crashed over from close range. This time the kick was successful to make the score 14-8 on 65 minutes.

Gaskin widened the points difference further with a successful kick inside the final 10 minutes, before St Helens added a fourth try when Beri Salihi dived over in the corner. Despite a missed kick, the Warriors trailed 20-8 with three minutes remaining.

A short restart was claimed by Paige Travis who accelerated deep into the Wigan half before play was sent to the left edge to Salihi who crossed for her second. The kick was unsuccessful on the hooter as the Warriors fell to a 24-8 defeat.

Gallery:

St Helens: Beri Salihi, Phoebe Hook, Stott, Luci McColm, Rebecca Rotheram, Zoe Harris, Faye Gaskin, Vicky Whitfield, Tara Jones, Chantelle Crowl, Paige Travis, Emily Rudge, Williams.

Interchange: Philippa Birchall, Katie Mottershead, Amy Taylor, Georgia Sutherland.

18th Player: Williams.

Tries: McColm (33′, 50′), Whitfield (65′), Salihi (77′, 79′).

Goals: Gaskin (2/6).

Wigan Warriors: Georgia Wilson, Emma Welsford, Kaitlin Hilton, Anna Davies, Ellise Derbyshire, Isabel Rowe, Emma Knowles, Holly Speakman, Rease Casey, Alice Fisher, Victoria Molyneux, Mary Coleman, Rachel Thompson.

Interchange: Abbie Singleton, Jade Gregory-Haselden, Cerys Jones, Bethany Hayes.

18th Player: Gracie Bradshaw.

Tries: Coleman (15′),

Goals: Knowles (2/2).